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Today Michael discusses how a good story inspired him to dive back into writing.

Greetings all at the
WEP!

Thank you so much for
featuring me at WEP today, ladies. I am honored to be here.

You could have knocked
me over with a feather. Winning first place in the ROAD LESS TRAVELED challenge
was certainly unexpected.

As
many of you know, I have had been less than inspired for the past few years,
not writing much and barely keeping up with blogging. It has been a very
stressful time, emotionally and physically.

But I
have never given up.

I knew
it would pass.

It
finally has.

Inspiration can come in many forms. It could be our friends, family,
our surroundings, a wonderful vacation, or just a walk around town. Spending
the winter at my condo in Orlando, Florida was going to be my escape. Instead,
the community here has been mismanaged, and basically the complex has taken a
nose dive. After much stress, screaming, letter writing, and determination, I
had the pleasure of getting to know one of my neighbors, who just happened to
be on the board for our condo complex. One day she mentioned her
OUTRAGEOUS
mother, Kay, who had also lived in this complex. She had died a few years prior
and sadly they were estranged during her passing.

Kim informed
me about how her siblings had laid Kay to rest, mere hours after her death,
with basically no funeral, buried in a pine box, with neither Kim nor any of
Kay's friends in attendance. Sadly, Kay had made her son executor of his will.
Needless to say, he absconded with everything and Kim never had closure.

As a few months
passed, I met Kim on several more occasions walking our dogs. I listened to
countless stories about her mother's antics with fronting and selling stolen
merchandise in the 50's, 60's, and 70's, her acquaintances and friendships with
many well known people of the day, and about her four husbands, ranging from the
first, Kim's father, an Italian Catholic, to a Jewish diamond merchant, a
Puerto Rican lifeguard, then finally a Muslim Egyptian man eight years her
junior. During most of her marriages and between the wheelings and dealings,
she owned a beauty shop in Middle Village Queens NY, where she was born and
raised.

Kay also had a love
affair with the arts and frequented Harlem to hear Count Basie, the Village
Gate to hear blues singer, Carmen Mcrae, who eventually became a close friend, several off-Broadway
gay oriented plays, and so much more.

But what clinched it
for me was Kay’s INCREDIBLY liberal attitude
in her life. Many of her clients were African American. Raised in the 30s and
40s as a white Anglo Protestant in QUEENS, NY...this was unheard of. Most
people then had very similar views to the famed Archie Bunker of All in the Family fame. Kay's
grandfather actually thought All in the
Family was a documentary! I gasped when I heard this. My father was also raised
in Queens and was an Italian Archie Bunker, so I know first hand how people
thought at that time.

I then approached
Kim. “This story needs to be told. Have you ever thought of writing a memoir?”

She burst out
laughing. “Are you kidding me,” she exclaimed in her thick Queens NY accent. “I
can’t write a memoir.”

“But I can,” I said.

Kim and I signed a
contract. I am thrilled to be writing Kay's memoir. Kim told me Kay had always
wanted to write about her incredible life, and now her story will be told!

I have already
written the first seven chapters and I am so excited to continue.... Kay will
become as famous as our beloved Auntie Mame, who happened to be fictitious. Kay
is the real deal! I cannot begin to tell you how honored and happy I am to write
her story. She was an AMAZING woman for her time, and to have roots from the
Mayflower, Kay was definitely not anything like the typical 1950's woman.

When I read about
April’s prompt at the WEP, I knew I needed to post a snippet from Kay’s story.
This piece features Kay’s transformation and the new journey she began on THE
ROAD LESS TRAVELED.

Kim is thrilled that
Kay’s story was acknowledged. I am EQUALLY as thrilled, knowing that even
though we take a hiatus from our writing, no matter how long, we can always
come back and produce a winner.

I would also like to
congratulate, Carrie Ann Golden, for her incredible insight into forgiving
one’s self, and Elephant’s Child, for her amazing life-changing adventure to
Antarctica. Writers who submit to the WEP are so talented, I don’t envy the WEP
in choosing their winners.

Thank you again, ladies
of the WEP, for choosing MOMMY KAY as the first place winner.

Have a wonderful day
everyone!

A creative soul, Michael Di Gesu has been in
the arts since a child. Trained as an illustrator and
interior designer with a BFA from School of Visual Arts in NYC, he took his
earlier career in a different direction after he was discovered by a
photographer from the fashion industry. He modeled in NYC and abroad until
1991, then left NYC and moved to South Florida to begin a new artistic journey.

He began his career in
interior design after remodeling his home in Fort Lauderdale. He freelanced for
several years until he moved to Las Vegas in the Mid 90s. There he returned to
the fashion industry and worked as a hair stylist and makeup artist for major
fashion adds through R&R advertising Agency.

After five years he
returned to South Florida to resume interior design.

In the mid 2000’s he
moved to Chicago to increase exposure in the interior design world. After five
successful years, the real estate market crashed. Freelance interior design
work dried up. With no real prospects, he decided to enter the literary world
and write and illustrate his first middle grade fantasy novel. With a
whole new world opening up to him through blogging, Michael found his new
niche. The writing community was a breath of fresh air for him and he met many
amazing writers who helped mentor him.

In 2013, he started his
freelance book design, illustration, and creative editing business,
specializing in unique and original works of art. His talent for introductions
of books, lead to blurb writing.

Today he is still a
freelance interior designer, and continues to assist his writer clients with
blurbs, creative editing, illustration, and book design.

You can find him at his
blog, IN TIME: http://writing-art-and-design.blogspot.com

29 comments:

Congratulations Michael - a deserved win for you ... for two reasons - one you've found an outlet for your creative talents, and secondly for letting Kim take her memories to a new level ... into something she never thought might happen - that publication ... good luck to you both ... and congratulations to the WEP selectors ... good job and great for us all to see what could happen - cheers Hilary

Nicely said in poetic verse, Desk49! Kay always wanted her story out there, now she will be immortalized on paper, so everyone can live through her exciting journey. Kay would be thrilled. Her spirit lives on....

Huge Congratulations Michael. Your entry pushed on ALL of my greedy reading buttons and I can't wait to hear more about Kay - a woman ahead of her time.I am so glad that her story is being told, and so glad that you are the one doing the telling. Some things are just meant to be.And thank you.

Thanks Denise! I am... this is a very fun writing project. It is complicated though, and taking me longer than anticipated. Kim is all over the place with the stories and many happen in the same time frame. So I do have QUITE THE JOB figuring out to make this a smooth and cohesive ride for the reader.

Kudos to you Michael for an interesting winner's post about Mommy Kay and her life. Perhaps her kids were estranged from her because it sounds as if she indulged herself and did what she wanted. Good luck with the writing!

That is EXACTLY RIGHT, D.G... Although Mommy Kay is a FANTASTIC and AMAZING woman for her time, her children definitely had a rough time. Kim, being the eldest, had the brunt of it. Her half sister, to this day refers to her mother as Kay... not mother or mom. Kim is also estranged with her and her half brother, who came many years later. He being Muslim and MALE, had no patience for his mother's antics or for Kim. Kim, in so many ways, is like KAY...she is outgoing and ambitious, BUT, she is kind and gentle especially to her only child. She raised her pretty much alone with no help from Mommy Kay. She worked two jobs to support her child. MK was two busy wheeling and dealing again after she divorced her last husband to help Kim even though they lived just across the street from each other.

Hi,Thanks for sharing the history behind how you started writing Mama Kay. Congratulations again on your win. I’m happy that you received it. It is an impetus for more. Keep writing.Shalom aleichem,Pat G

No kidding, Pat! I almost spit out my permanent teeth. LOL. Seriously though, that IS the way people acted in Queens at that time. Kay's grandfather was probably only ten years older than Archie Bunker in the early 70's., although a character, he was based on thousands of middled aged men from Queens. As I stated before, my Dad was from Astoria, Queens as well and he WAS an Italian version of Archie Bunker and around the same age, too!. It was like watching my father on TV... But I saw them mostly in the 80's in reruns. I was only in grade school in the early 70's and watched the Brady Bunch and Happy days.

That it is, Olga.... the complexity of her life and all its facets are quite the challenge. She did soooo much in such a short period of time. I am actually only chronicling her younger years. from the time she was 18 to 43. After her relationship with her last husband, who pretty much suppressed her for about a decade, she came back to life with a vengeance and continued to LIVE life on her terms for the next thirty years.

That it is, Donna... but it is very close to my upbringing because my dad was from Queens, i can relate to the time and place. Kay was actually younger than my dad was, so I was always in Queens visiting his family growing up.

Michael, we're thrilled to have you rejoin the WEP, especially with such an inspirational piece! I've said before quitting is never an option but detours are part of the journey! I'm on one now, and still holding out hope for a positive outcome! CONGRATULATIONS!

I missed the challenge this time around but will make a point to read this entry. It sounds truly fascinating. As always, thanks for providing this wonderful opportunity. This isn't just a chance to write; WEP gives authors hope and motivation to keep writing.

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